Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 96

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 96

“This is actually working.”
Sam Jangro spoke in a daze.
He never thought they’d actually manage to push the Orthodox Faction into such a defensive position.
In truth, forcing them into defense was simple enough—just throw everything at them and wage total war.
But what mattered was speed.
Ending it as quickly as possible was crucial, and they’d managed to pull in the Heterodox Faction so well that they were nearly done with their objective.
“I told you, didn’t I? That it would work!”
Dang So spoke from beside him.
“That’s not thanks to you, though.”
“What are you saying? It’s because I came that the Demonic Sect is doing so well.”
“Of course.”
Sam Jangro nodded in agreement, as if to say he understood.
A villain who’d been in the Heterodox Faction had come all this way and was making a fuss.
At first it was good to have another Ranker added, but now that he thought about it, even Dang So might’ve been unnecessary.
“That said, things are pretty intense. Scary how that guy fights.”
Sam Jangro was watching two people fighting in the Combat Training Grounds along with the Bandit King and Dang So.
The Bandit King spoke up.
“Still. Seo Jun really does beat… I mean, he really does teach well.”
The two people fighting in the Combat Training Grounds were Seo Jun and the World’s Greatest Swordsman.
Without the broadcast on, Seo Jun was pummeling the swordsman under the pretense of training.
Sam Jangro asked hesitantly.
“Teaching well, you say? That?”
“Well…”
Wasn’t that just stress relief? A punching bag?
Sam Jangro glanced sideways.
The Bandit King’s eyes had grown slightly moist.
“It actually does have an effect…”
How would he know?
His eyes suggested he didn’t want to know either.
Though Sam Jangro couldn’t know the full story, something about it made him shudder.
Meanwhile, the Bandit King—or rather, Lee Dong-su—thought to himself.
‘Didn’t he say this was training for broadcast content?’
Yet right now there was no broadcast running.
Come to think of it, even the gym…
He had to admit, his personality was quite troublesome.
But.
‘My skills are improving…’
Lee Dong-su gazed up at the sky in despair for a moment.
‘Mine too.’
Within the organization, there were multiple internal programs that tested various physical conditions and skill levels.
Of course there were—they were one of the top organizations in the massive virtual reality gaming market.
And those test results, slight though they were, had been steadily improving lately.

—His body is still developing, isn’t it?
—His reaction time is improving too

The coach and trainers had attempted analysis of the cause.
When the coach asked if he had any idea what was driving it, Lee Dong-su mentioned Seo Jun.

—There’s this guy I spar with who’s pretty skilled, so I often practice against him.
—That streamer?
—Yes.
—Your skills improve just from fighting?
—You’ve seen him play the game, haven’t you, coach?
—Right, but you’re playing the same game as him now, aren’t you?
—Yes.
—Excellent! You’re free to use your personal time!

Perhaps because he’d shown concrete results?
As a coach, there was no reason to forbid Lee Dong-su’s contact with Seo Jun if his skills were genuinely improving.
Free time was negligible in practice, and he still had to complete all mandatory schedules, but thanks to that much, he was able to participate in the War Game like this.
Incidentally, Lee Dong-su never mentioned that he was only getting beaten because of his pride.
“So it’s really that effective, huh?”
“It is, but… well… yeah. It’s good. Really good.”
The lower your starting point, the steeper your improvement curve tends to be.
They were witnessing in real time as the World’s Greatest Swordsman’s skill grew at an accelerating pace with each passing day.
“Then… should I ask for some training as well?”
Lee Dong-su’s head turned to the side.
Sam Jangro flinched at the look in his eyes—the gleam of someone with many things on his mind.
“Well… it’s not bad, but…”
The reason Lee Dong-su kept taking blows was professional spirit.
Even though his brain seemed to have gone on strike, unable to comprehend that he was learning something every time Seo Jun hit him.
Still, his body—admirably—seemed to absorb the lessons through sheer repetition, which left him no choice but to come back for more.
‘If there weren’t results, I’d avoid it.’
Above all, Seo Jun knew how to hit.
Painfully, but never fatally.
“Do you remember what Seo Jun did to this guy before?”
Lee Dong-su decided to remind him of the price first.
“Right. He told him to try Parrying and then beat him to death with heavy attacks, didn’t he?”
By the way, the swordsman had never successfully blocked even once and just kept getting pummeled until the end.
“So what about now?”
“Well…”
Sam Jangro’s gaze fixed ahead.
This time.
He tells him to attack with heavy strikes instead, and then he’s the one doing the Parrying.
‘Wow.’
Sam Jangro gasped in admiration for a moment.
This guy had no conscience.
After Parrying, he attacks the swordsman mercilessly.
It’s almost like immediate feedback—you failed, so take a hit—but how’s a regular player supposed to succeed against someone fighting three Rankers at once?
Even Satan wouldn’t be this cruel.
Yet it’s strange that his skills are still improving despite all this.
“As expected.”
“Right?”
Lee Dong-su and Sam Jangro exchanged a glance.
They were clearly thinking the same thing.
Imagining themselves in the swordsman’s position, no doubt.
“Haha, so he’ll train me if I ask? When you’re so busy. Never mind—better not to ask.”
“…”
On this one point, Lee Dong-su could answer with certainty.
This wasn’t the type of person who’d hate having more punching bags.
Of course, he had no intention of disrupting Sam Jangro’s self-rationalization.
“Tell you what—learn from me instead.”
Dang So, who’d been listening from the side, spoke up.
The two naturally ignored him.
“By the way, we might not be able to push the Orthodox Faction today, right?”
Lee Dong-su said to Sam Jangro.
“We’re the Heterodox Faction, after all.”
Yesterday, Seo Jun had managed to attack the Orthodox Faction’s Headquarters, but hadn’t actually fought them.
After losing Seomseo, the connection remained severed, and the Heterodox Faction still had one more region to go before reaching the Headquarters.
So he’d decided to assess the situation first and make a choice, but the Orthodox Faction didn’t attack Sanseo—just defended.
Once Sanseo fell too, they clearly couldn’t pull any other tricks anyway, so it made no difference from suggesting an all-out clash without wasting time.
Thus today, the Orthodox Faction’s Headquarters would face the Demonic Sect—now connected via Seomseo—and the Heterodox Faction pushing in together.
Yet oddly, the Orthodox Faction seemed more at ease now than when they’d been on the back foot.
Why?
“The Orthodox Faction is trusting the Heterodox Faction.”
“Exactly.”
Why would the Orthodox Faction trust the Heterodox Faction?
Obviously because the Heterodox Faction wouldn’t attack.
“The Heterodox Faction is truly evil. They’re not to be trusted at all.”
Hearing this, Sam Jangro stared at Lee Dong-su with an absurd expression, his gaze drifting upward to check the ID above his head.

[Bandit King]

If this person—who’d been banditry in the greenwood just before the War Game started—was going to say things like that, he should at least change his Nickname.
“Yes… well, they are evil.”
“Compared to them, how upright we are.”
That’s also a bit…
Sam Jangro shook his head in exasperation.

* * *

One minute before 7 PM.
An enormous number of viewers had gathered in Seo Jun’s channel.
‘Will it hit 20,000?’
It seemed they’d established themselves as a symbol of sorts—the force pushing into the Orthodox Faction.

—Is he really sending the Orthodox Faction packing?
—I couldn’t sleep from excitement.
—Don’t come! I’m telling you not to!
—Orthodox Faction is screwed lol

[‘OO’ donated 10,000 won!]
[If you play like this, giving up on the championship and destroying a whole Faction, the War Game won’t work well. I’m pretty disappointed.]

“Thank you for the support.”
It was a situation where disappointment was understandable.
The War Game as content becomes boring fast when one Faction harbors malice against another.
So controversy hadn’t erupted yet, but if the Orthodox Faction truly got eliminated from the War Game, angry Orthodox Faction supporters could cause an uproar.
The Demonic Sect leading this would face criticism, and so would Seo Jun.
The way to avoid this was.
“What are you saying? Didn’t you see the stream title? Who’s giving up on the championship?”
Tell the truth.
Because it really wasn’t malicious.

[The championship is Demonic Sect’s anyway]

—facts lol
—The Administrator has a plan for everything!
—That’s been the title for days

“And beating up one guy between the two of us?”
Seo Jun wore an expression of genuine confusion.
Then 7 PM arrived.

—Tick-tick-tick-tick
—Charge!
—Let’s see how it ends

As everyone expected, the Demonic Sect and Heterodox Faction reached right before the Orthodox Faction’s Headquarters.
It was a situation like being on the verge of collapse, but strangely, the Orthodox Faction’s Headquarters showed no signs of combat.
Instead, at the meeting point between the Demonic Sect and Heterodox Faction, the Heterodox Faction’s Rankers began seizing the game.
Those expecting an all-out clash from the factions from the start wore confused expressions.

—Huh? What are those Heterodox guys doing?
—wtf
—Called it lol
—They’re betraying us now? Why?
—Saw this coming.

The reactions split.
Seo Jun was on the “I saw this coming” side.
Those with more War Game experience probably anticipated the betrayal.
“The Heterodox Faction wants to continue suppressing the Orthodox Faction through us. If this standoff continues, the best position is theirs.”
In other words, the Heterodox Faction wants the Orthodox Faction’s defense to succeed.
Why?
“They must’ve figured out what we’re planning. They know that after we’re done with the Orthodox Faction, they’re next. The Demonic Sect’s strategy is to crush all enemies’ Headquarters.”
Seo Jun explained the Demonic Sect’s strategy.
There’s no point hiding it now.

—Was that really it? lmao
—I kept saying maybe, and now you’re just spelling it out lol
—Everyone kinda predicted it, but the fact that they’d actually follow through is legendary lmao
—Then why did the Heterodox Faction help you guys and come all the way to the Orthodox Faction’s entrance?
—Explain for the newbies

“We cooperated for exactly this reason. We knew it too, and we deliberately pulled them in.”
To summarize the situation:
The Demonic Sect had devised a strategy to crush Headquarters.
But when they occupied Seomseo, the Orthodox Faction’s scheme caused delays.
Even if time dragged on, they could still destroy the Orthodox Faction’s Headquarters.
However, the longer it took to eliminate the Orthodox Faction, the less time they’d have to destroy the Heterodox Faction’s Headquarters.
So Seo Jun decided to pull in the Heterodox Faction.
At the time, the Heterodox Faction controlled many regions, but it didn’t mean much.
When second and third place start checking first place, another first place emerges, and they must then check that new first place with a different third.
Unless there was only a day left in the War Game, no matter how overwhelming the advantage, the tide could always turn.
Then the Demonic Sect approached them, suggesting they work together to target the Orthodox Faction.
At that moment, the Heterodox Faction probably figured out what the Demonic Sect was after.
Eliminate the Orthodox Faction, then eliminate the Heterodox Faction next.
Yet they cooperated anyway because.
“If we do this, we can definitively eliminate the Orthodox Faction as a competitor. And if the Orthodox Faction holds on from this point onward, where the board is already set…”
The Demonic Sect would fall with them.
“Then the Heterodox Faction wins the championship.”
The Orthodox Faction, realizing late what was happening, was now betting everything on a comeback, but the odds were insurmountable.
And that was the current state of the War Game.

—Oh lmaooo
—The War Game’s more complex than I thought
—So the Demonic Sect and Heterodox Faction both figured each other out and used each other
—Nice
—This is fun lol This is cooperation! This is a War Game!
—So what’ll you do now, Master?

After the explanation, a playful chat message caught his eye.
What will you do?
Wasn’t what comes next obvious?
Yet they were asking anyway—probably wanting to hear it directly.
Seo Jun believed it was a streamer’s duty to tell the audience what they wanted to hear.
“What’ll we do? Simple. Today we take down the Orthodox Faction.”
So Seo Jun opened his mouth before the 20,000 viewers his channel had accumulated.
“Starting tomorrow, we hunt the Heterodox Faction. That’s all there is to it. So let me say it one more time:”
He grinned and spoke.
“The championship belongs to the Demonic Sect either way.”
The moment those words ended.
As if they’d been waiting, a red marker appeared over Habuk, the region where the Orthodox Faction’s Headquarters stood.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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